08-06-18

Lugano, Switzerland / 3 nights

Ever since we booked all of our accommodation back in January, Lugano has been the location I was most looking forward to. We definitely treated ourselves with our stay in Lugano in regards to the price tag. We found our little gem on Airbnb, an apartment tucked away in the hill side with a view of nobody else but Lake Lugano. I didn’t think it was possible but the view surpassed the images on the Airbnb site.

The fun part of this place came from trying to access it. You take a small alleyway off of the main road which winds up one of the many mountains of Lugano and begin your descent to the hidden beauty. Through stairs occupied by a jungle of bushes and plants and lizards scattering across the path as they hear your feet snapping branches and twigs. This route is perhaps not for the few that squirm at dense amounts of nature. Although for me, the route couldn’t have been more perfect. Climbing down the winding route on the slope of the mountain and eventually climbing down the steps to the balcony of our home. Utterly amazing.

Before we had arrived in Lugano or at our paradise apartment which we called, ‘home’ for the past few days, I assumed we would make our way into the town of Lugano during the day and spend most of our time there. However, this couldn’t have been further from our actual itinerary.

Once we had experienced the breathtaking view which was our Airbnb, it really would have taken some urge to not spend every second there. Why go elsewhere when the beauty of your location is right on your doorstep? Therefore, we treated this location like a mini holiday. Well yes, these whole past 5 weeks have been one huge holiday but sometimes you need a mini holiday just to recover from your past hectic locations.

We arrived into Lugano in the late afternoon and had worked up quite an appetite from our travel day from Milan to here so we walked down the hill to our nearest bus stop, only 5 minutes away.

Side note: if you are not staying in the heart of Lugano and want to get into the town, always try and catch a bus and not a taxi. Our taxi from the station for not even a 10 minute journey was 30 Francs (just under €30). However our bus fare into the town which only takes 5-10 minutes and costs €2.50 each! To give you some distance perspective we were staying in a region called Castagnola.

We caught the bus to Lugano Centre (the main bus station in the town) and explored the city. A very quaint town with many small lanes filled with boutiques and cafes but you can’t help but be drawn to the beauty of the lake. The lake is always active with boats, kayakers, rowers and paddle boarders. It creates such a great active and young vibe created by the local university.

We grabbed lunch in city which quickly made us realise just how expensive it is here. Two pizzas and two diet cokes come to €50, it was at this point we made the decision to cook dinner ourselves and buy our supplies at the supermarket. From there on out we would venture to the supermarket every afternoon and pick up pizzas and snacks and cook them in our little kitchen and enjoy them on our balcony. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Asides from being obsessed with our accommodation and relaxing on our balcony, the apartment had access down to the lake. We trekked down the rest of the mountain on both of our mornings in order to relax some more right on the lake front. I mastered up the courage to bomb into the lake followed by an instant bodily freeze from the temperature of the water!

Whilst we were down by the lake we came across the equivalent of a beach club so a lake club if you will. Going by the name of Lido San Domenico it offered a bar with drinks, snacks and ice cream, a grass area with sun loungers and a cornered off part of the lake with a floating pontoon. For only 6 Francs each, or 4 Francs each if you tell a little white lie like us and say you’re a student, it is an unarguable price!

We spend most of our whole second day at Lido San Domenico, lounged on the grass, swam out to the pontoon and sunbathed some more out there. It was when we were laying on the pontoon in the hot sun, talking about our whole trip when I looked up and saw how we were surrounded by mountains and a lake when I thought, this is really everything I hoped the trip would be. Also, everything I hope my future life will like, very easy and with no fuss.

Overall, our stay in Lugano was everything I hoped it would be and more. A fairytale of a short stay and a place I hope I will come back to one day.

Peace and love,

Yasmin xo